How much weight am I going to lose on this path?

You may lose more than 2lbs a week with your plan but you won't be very healthy and most of the losses you do have will be water and muscle, not fat. Your body NEEDS calories to function.. you should eat at least your BMR everyday. When you eat too little you don't leave your organs enough fuel and you increase muscle loss (don't forget, your heart is a muscle).

Do something that is sustainable. Eating so little will only cause you to gain the weight back once you start eating more and it will make it harder to keep off as you will of lowered your muscle mass and lowered our metabolism.

Wow! I am glad you decided to post this now. You've got to reconsider your goals! If you want to lose weight and keep it off, a slower approach would be better. As the above poster mentioned, your weight isn't that high for someone of your height so you do not need to take extreme measures. I personally lost about 50 pounds in a year.

Good luck. When you reach your goal that way you are going to have to deal with the complete lack of muscle mass that you burned though and flabby skin. Not to mention being skinny fat. I'd suggest doing a little bit of research now on how to deal with those issues. :flowerforyou:

I'd like to suggest to you that you consult your physician or ask for a referral to a nutritionist. Your plan and goals are setting your body and mind up for disaster. All the best to you.

Eating too few calories will likely work against you. Too few calories makes your body freak out (where's the food?!) and then it will in turn lower your metabolism and try to hold on to anything you do eat. Initially you may lose a bit more, but if your metabolism lowers it will be harder in the near future to lose. You shouldn't go below 1200 considering your height/weight. You are likely eating far more than that currently.

Are you already working out? It's better to be kind to your body and ease into it. I find working out makes the difference for me.

Good luck with your journey!
~j

If your calorie goal is 1380, and you are burning 1000 each workout, then on the days you workout, you can eat as much as 2000 calories and end up netting at least 1000 which would be the calories you earned back. 2lbs per week is the max you should be trying to lose if you are serious about losing fat and not muscle. Instead of not eating enough, you should focus on excercising longer. That will help tone and build up your endurance and you will definitely burn the calories you eat. I like to burn at least 1000 calories during my workouts, but I won't hit that number unless I have eaten AT LEAST 1200 by the time I workout or else I will have no energy.

I understand, we all want the weight to drop off NOW. But it is better to lose it the proper way. 10lbs every 5 weeks is a great loss. Aim for that.

I happen to have a very similar story to yours. Starting weight 195, 5'10, current weight 150. I can tell you exactly what you need to do to get to your goal weight since I was once where you are, and am now where you want to be.

1) Be patient

2) NET 1700-1800 calories a day. NET!

3) bust your butt at the gym to build muscle and stimulate metabolism. Heavy lifting and intense cardio. If your not sweating your *kitten* off and hobbling out of the gym, you should be working harder.

4) When you get to around 170, net 1900-200

5)When you get to 160, net 2100-2200

6) When you reach your goal, don't change anything about how you eat, just add a little more to reach maintanance which for me is around 2300.

7) Be patient

Sticking to this exact plan, I lost 40 pounds in 6 months while gaining muscle mass, definition, and strength. I have below 10% body fat, and eat a very healthy maintanance diet. This is a marathon and a lifestyle. Don't think of it as losing weight. Think of it as changing your eating habits, and a different body is the byproduct of that change.

I have been at this BF% for 6 months while gaining muscle and strength. Unless you take the slow road, you are destined to be one of the millions who put it back on as quick as it came off.

Again. Trust me. Don't think about it anymore. Follow my plan above and you will get where you want to be.

Thanks all for your honest replies - I understand this is NOT something I can sustain, but I sort of hoped that a month or so like this would help me lose a bit in the short term, then to level out at a more healthy level and focus on building my muscle mass. I am definitely reconsidering this now though.

What is the minimum net calories I should have daily, and how many lbs can I heathily lose per week?

EDIT: The 1000 calories of exercise per day is what MFP has told me - based on 1 hour of 4mph walking, a couple of minutes on a rowing machine (building myself up to do more!) and 30-40 minutes on a cross trainer.

Definitely reconsider. If you stay this low, even for a month, you will probably put a few pounds back on when you up your calories. It's not worth the stress. Change your calorie goal to 1 pound per week. I believe the blanket number is men should not net under 1500 calories, but each person is different. Hopefully someone will weigh in on this, but you should probably calculate your TDEE (total daily energy expenditure which includes your exercise, though you might want to assume you are not really burning 1,000 calories a day MFP's numbers can be high) then subtract 15% from that number and eat that number of calories.

Just put it on 1 lbs a week.
Eat back most of your exercise.
Enjoy life.

It take some time but will work better.

This. Ever since I put mine on 1 lb a week and started eating more I feel WAY better. Slow and steady is the way to go...drastic measures will likely end in disaster not to mention the damage you are doing to your body.

EDIT: The 1000 calories of exercise per day is what MFP has told me - based on 1 hour of 4mph walking, a couple of minutes on a rowing machine (building myself up to do more!) and 30-40 minutes on a cross trainer.

Some of MFP's exercise estimates are way off. I suggest the use of a heart rate monitor to better gauge your burn.